Monday, April 23, 2012

So, there's this group of super wealthy billionaires who have decided to join forces to realize what I guess has been a childhood dream. They want to mine asteroids for resources just like all those science fiction movies we grew up with. So, get ready because this group of billionaires and former NASA scientists will announce Planetary Resources Inc., the first asteroid mining company in history.Ordinarily, I would just read about this with amusement and think "how 2050" but then the list of contributors strikes you as almost doable. Serious even. Harnessing the resources of asteroids is not a crazy proposition and the return of investment could be amazing. So much that they are convinced they can "add trillions of dollars to the global GDP." More importantly, this may solve many of our material needs as resources on Earth keep dwindling fast.What's important to know is that the world governments couldn't embark on this kind of investment. Not because they couldn't, but because the general public, especially here in the US are thinking regressively. There's no way people would trust government, when all anyone's witnessed is leadership helping those who contribute substantially to campaigns. Which is why, the billionaires list kinda makes sense. These are people who no longer need government and haven't for quite some time. Some got there by bilking the system decades ago, but that's another matter. So the question is, is this a hobby? or is this doable?There are no details yet, but if they are going to invest millions of dollars on it, you can be sure it is doable and it will be profitable. They don't have to travel to the asteroid belt to grab them. There are many passing near Earth that may be accessible. Will it happen any time before we feel the passing of peak oil? Exhaust our coal and gas? We'll see. Will our global resources be better managed during the time they perfect their project? Don't be silly. The corporatocracy will continue to plunder what's left for their own profits. Be aware of the press on this in the weeks to come. There are some famous names associated with this and plenty of money to make it so.

3 comments:

Anonymous
said...

It's so sad that the next big thing really is the next big thing. Something that could extinguish life on earth could also harbor tremendous energy.Lets watch and see what these moneybags can do on their own.

Now, I've seen plenty of scifi movies, but this story takes the cake. You'd have to believe in the natural goodness in humanity to think people are going to mine asteroids for the good of mankind. There's no such animal. Not then, Not Now, not ever!